Meso · Groups & Organizations Stub 1953

Wittgensteinian Language Games and Forms of Life

비트겐슈타인의 언어게임과 삶의 양식

A foundational ordinary language philosophy theory asserting that linguistic meaning is not determined by abstract mental representations or rigid referencing, but by how words are used in communal "language games".

Field Philosophy · Linguistics
Level of analysis Meso · Groups & Organizations
Paradigm Pragmatism Hermeneutics
Key figures 👤 Ludwig Wittgenstein (루트비히 비트겐슈타인)
Year 1953

Key Claims

Ludwig Wittgenstein rejected the metaphysical referential theory of language. Words function like tools in a toolbox; their meaning is constituted by communal rule-following in diverse ‘language games’ embedded in shared cultural ‘forms of life’, exhibiting family resemblances rather than rigid essences.

Further Reading

  • Wittgenstein, L. (1953). Philosophische Untersuchungen. (English: Philosophical Investigations, Blackwell).

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